Lavo’s Oreo Zeppoles and One-Pound Meatballs Might Inhibit Dancing

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Las Vegas import Lavo opens next week in the former Au Bar space, across the street from its sister megarestaurant, Tao. There’s a buzzy nightclub downstairs, but it’s debatable how much dancing one might do after consuming a one-pound Wagyu-blend meatball, two-foot-long lobster-scampi pizza, and Oreo zeppoles for dessert. Before Brooklyn native Ralph Scamardella became corporate chef of the Tao group, he worked at Le Cygne, the Polo, and Vanessa’s, but it’s his stint at Carmine’s, pioneer of Italian-American family-style excess, that’s reflected here most. Chef Manuel Treviño, late of Travertine and Babbo, will reproduce Scamardella’s Vegas menu, making tweaks over time — check it out below.